A Tale of Two Loves
by LadySedatePhobia
Summary: When So-ri searches for her father in Korea with her best friend Layla, they get far more than they bargained for when a strange app appears on So-ri's phone. The two girls are quickly swept away on their own, radically different journies. Separated from each other, with no way to get in touch, how will these girls handle being trapped alone in a new country?
1. Disappointment

"Mr. Alexanders…" She started with a cold and calculating tone "I'm sure I don't have to spend too much time explaining the gravity of your current situation?" A small smirk crept up her lips as she watched the older man's face turn pale. "You see, as you know, prostitution is quite illegal here, as is soliciting a prostitute. On top of that, you've been married for 20 years. Lovely wife by the way, and your children with her are just so beautiful I can hardly stand it! So… It would just break my heart if something were to come out and wreck your lovely home. And your reputation."

"Y-you wouldn't! Y-you'd be incriminating yourself as well!"

"Hmm? Would I? Are you sure?" She giggled "Let me put things in prospective for you… Do you remember that major scandal that came out a few months ago? Oh what was his name…? Oh, that's right… Johnathan Joone…. The heir to Joone Tech… So much has happened since then… Could you remind me what happened to him, and his business?"

The man before her trembled as he thought back to Joone.

"Mr. Alexanders." She said to break his silence "I am quite a busy woman. And you are quite a busy man. The sooner you and I settle this the better. So please, tell me what happened to Mr. Joone?"

"Th-the footage was released… And his whole life fell into ruin. His marriage split up. His kids refuse to have any further contact with him… Consumers started to boycott Joone Tech products… Joone Tech stock value plummeted. Now you can't give any of his stock away…"

"Good, now, can you tell me who the woman was? The woman who revealed all the nasty dirt on your buddy Joone?"

"N-no… The source was anonymous… Her face was blurred out in the tapes… Her voice was altered… Was it…?"

"Me? Yes. Yes it was. But you see, it didn't stop there. You see, I also made a point to discover some… interesting… information on him. Oh yes, it was all very time consuming but in the end it was worth it."

"Clever girl…" He growled "So, what's stopping me from killing you right now so nothing happens to my name?"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!~" a voice called out from the closet "One false move, and in a single click this all goes viral! And in the time it would take to recover a single fragment of your previous reputation, the damage would all be too great. All it really takes is a single seed. But right now, I have an entire garden on you!"

Furious, the man rushed to the closet and struggled with the locked door before a gun shot was fired from the inside "That one was a blank, but the next one will be loaded!" The girl in the closet sang before a distinctive click was heard.

Chills ran down the man's back as he contemplated his decision.

"Tik toc, Mr. Alexanders. I have other appointments to make."

"H-how much are you asking…"

"Good boy~!" She sung "Well, my original hush offer was going to be a mere two grand, every other week, for about oohhh say six months? But… You thought it would be smart to threaten me. No sir, threats are quite expensive you see. Then you attempted to assault my dear baby sister in the closet. That's going to be rather expensive. So, let me first say that you have 20 minutes to get us the first installment, and we have eyes everywhere, so don't try anything funny. Try anything funny and the price will take another dramatic increase. The new price? 12 grand, same time frame. Once it's all paid up, we can forget about each other and you can trust that all this awful dirt I dug up on you will be buried once more. But, if you try to retaliate after all this, it will all get out. And there will be no coming back. Understood?"

"Y-yes…"

_For years, it's been like this. Rich, powerful, and insanely stupid men would knock on my door, looking for a good time. Neither knowing, nor caring about my ill intent until it was too late. It… disgusts me. _

_I was born of a deep sin. And I will die in deep sin._

_I am disgusting. _

**Six months later**

So-ri swallowed hard as she rang the bell at the front gate. A man at the gate responded through the intercom "State your name and business."

"Silver Tongue So and Lay-Lo here. Come on James, you know why we're here. Can we see Vincent now?"

James could be heard giving a hard sigh before the door opened and the two ladies walked in.

"Layla…" So-ri started as they headed to the study "Just remember that you go where I go. Okay?"

"Yes. But So… Don't you trust Vincent?" Layla looked at her dear friend curiously.

"I trust Vincent with my life! We've been best friends since we were little. I don't trust his men. Layla, you don't know too well, since you've only been involved with me officially for about a year but… Many of his men don't respect him yet. Many of them think he's far too young to take over for his late father. Others seem to think he's too soft… Where I go, you follow. Because if they know anything…" She glared at a man she caught looking dirty at them "It's that I am not the one to fuck with."

They finally reached the door to his study. So-ri knocked three times and called out loudly "Heeeyyy Fruuiiitttt Caaaaakkkeee~! Let us in pleeaaasseee~!" After a short minute he opened the door, trying his best not to smile. "Do you have any idea how many people here can just get away with calling the young don Fruit Cake?" He snickered

"Just me?"

"Yes."

"Love ya booo~!"

"Anyways…" He coughed "I can't let two lovely ladies just stand out in the cold. Please come in!"

The three of them sat down and enjoyed a can of PhD Pepper each as they spoke.

"So…" Vincent began "What brings you ladies here this afternoon?"

So-ri and Layla just looked at each other for a moment and then back to him "I think it's time…" So-ri announced softly "We've saved up quite a bit… So… If you could tell us what we owe you for-"

"Stop right there. You will owe me for nothing. So~so, you have always been my most loyal best friend. Your intuition about others is almost always dead on. And, you have saved my life many, many times before it was even in danger. As long as that is true of you, I will require no form of payment from either of you."

"T-thank you…"

"Anyways, you were saying?"

"Well… I want to find my father in Korea… And I don't know how long it will take to find him… It could even take up to a year… So…."

"So… I hope you're not asking for a year off… Because you're not my employee. You're my friend. On top of that, I know how much it hurts you to keep doing things this way. I wish you wouldn't. You know you don't have to… And… Since I know how you hurt by doing this, I just want to kill any man I catch leaving that house after a long night…."

"Vincent…"

"I'm sorry. Please. Go to Korea. Take a long break. Find your father. Most importantly, So, find yourself. Take all the time you need."

"Thanks. One more thing though…"

"Yes?"

"Layla comes with me."

"Of course. But I have a condition…"

"That would be…?"

"Both of you, keep direct contact with me. Regularly. If so much as 10 days go by without me receiving contact from both your phones, I will personally fly out here with my best men to ensure your safety. Understood?"

Both girls nodded in agreement.

"Also… Take these."

It was a pair of matching necklaces with simple gem charms

"They're so lovely…"

"True, but never take them off. If you press the gem it sends off a distress signal and alerts me to your exact location. The signal is impossible to jam, but it's subtle enough to go undetected."

**Two weeks later**

"WOW!" Layla's eyes lit up as she took in the sight around her and So-ri. After being released of the jet lag from the flight and rapid time zone changes, the girls spent just over a week sightseeing all around the country. They stayed on the top floor of a wonderful hotel, where they had the most fantastic view of the city.

"So~so! This is amazing! Ha! I feel like a queen! From sleeping locked in tiny closets to sleeping on big fluffy beds in lofty hotels! I feel like I've really grown here.

_**Right… Those nights in the closet… so tiny… and cramped. I was tiny then though. It was no big deal really. On nights that I didn't have to be seen when she had bad trips, it was worth it. It's a shame she knew my special spot though. Since she was always willing to do anything for her poison. I wonder… Did she really think it was worth it in the end? **_

"Hahaha. Layla, don't get too used to it. Now that we've had some fun… It's time to do some work."

"Damn right! We need to find your dad!"

_The search took about four months… It turned out, he was a big business man in a major tech company. When he met my mother, he was a newlywed young man with the whole world ahead of him. He's still married to the same woman, and they have a daughter not much younger than me. Wow… I just couldn't believe I had a blood sister floating around! I could barely contain myself. It took a lot of convincing, but after a long conversation, he finally agreed to meet me face to face._

"Listen…" The man said coldly "I'm only meeting with you so we can put this whole business to rest. I can't afford a scandal and I do not intend to play happy family. Got it?"

"Understood."

"And if anyone asks, you're just a student interviewing me for a project."

"Yes…"

"Now, what do you need from me"

"Well, first, I want to know if you remember mom."

"A little. But to me, she was just a speck in my life and a bitter mistake at that. I love my wife, I guess I was just upset with her when all this happened."

"Oh… Well, even so, I thought you'd want to know that she passed 6 years ago."

"I see, well I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't be… Things between us were… complicated. Her death may have saved my life…"

"I see, well I'm sorry life was hard for you. But she never told me about you so there was nothing I could have done."

"I-I know…"

"Surely you didn't just come here for that."

"Umm, no… I was wondering if there are any health issues that run in your family I need to worry about…"

"Okay, that makes sense. Just keep an eye on your blood pressure and you should be fine as far as I'm concerned. Obviously I can't speak for your mom's side though"

"Alright thanks…"

He impatiently looked at his watch "I assume that's all, since anything else would be a waste of time. I am quite busy after all."

"Oh, umm… Yeah, of course…"

"Well on that note," He said standing up "I must get going. It was nice meeting you, but I can't afford to acknowledge you as mine."

"R-right…"

"Then, good bye." Without a moment of delay he was out the door and in his limo

"Good bye…"

She just sat there for a few minutes, trying to process what happened. She took in a few deep breaths before updating Vincent on what just happened, though she knew he'd be asleep at the time. After pouring her heart out in several paragraphs she sent it, that's when she noticed it. She had a notification from a new app.

"R-F-A? When did I download this?" She opened the app only to be met with a screeching sound so loud she dropped her phone on the table. She watched as data flooded her screen and a message popped up.

She felt a peering pair of eyes staring at her as she wrote back to the stranger, her danger senses tingling. She did everything she was told to do, unsure of what would happen if she didn't.


	2. Red Flags

Layla was enjoying some alone time with the television while So-ri was meeting her father. She watched as one episode turned into two, then three, then four as she started to worry about her friend. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

_**Did she lose her room key?**_

"Really So~So?" She called as she walked to the door "Did you lose your key?"

She opened the door to find a man dressed as a hotel employee waiting for her.

"Oh, is there a problem?"

"I'm afraid so miss," He said softly, blue eyes sparkling "I'm afraid there was a clerical error with your payment. It's all been refunded to the bank for some reason. I'm going to have to ask you to pack up and leave."

"Huh? Hold on, let me call my friend, it's her money. Maybe she can work it out?"

"Go ahead, we'll give you until noon, but you must check out by then if you can't get it fixed."

She nodded and closed the door.

_**What the hell is going on here?**_

She called So-ri, but no matter how long she waited, or how many times she tried to call, the call simply wouldn't go through. She sighed, defeated, as she put her phone down and started packing their things.

It was a long hour of packing until she heard another knock at the door. She opened it to be greeted by those same bright blue eyes from earlier "I'm so sorry…" He said "but time is up. Let me help you with your things…"

His eyes were almost hypnotic as he spoke. "Please, don't worry about where you'll stay. I've called a local convent and they have an extra room for you to stay in for as long as you need. I'll call one for your friend too if she needs it."

"Co-Convent?"

"Oh yes, the people there are so kind and loving, it's like paradise!"

She imagined his dark hair blowing in the imaginary wind as he spoke of this place when suddenly, her danger senses went off in her gut. She just smiled and nodded as they went down to the lobby.

"They'll be here any minute now. Also, you can leave your friend's things here. I'll personally make sure she gets them!" He smiled.

_**I should say no, and he seems real nice, so why are my instincts telling me to just do what he says? Why do I feel like I'm being watched?**_

She smiled back at him as she handed over So-ri's things to the man.

The two carried on with small talk as they waited for her ride to show up.

"By the way," He started as a black car pulled up "It would be a wise decision to go ahead and tell your friend where you're going. Signal can be pretty spotty in that area." He smiled as two big men in plain clothes came in to greet them.

"Please come with us." One said as the other grabbed her things and took them to the car.

As she followed them to the car, she noticed a man, dressed like a fairy tale prince, holding the back passenger seat door open for her. They're eyes met, they were a light minty shade of blue, and time seemed to freeze for a moment. All her fears about the situation melted away.

"H-hello." He said timidly "My name is Ray. It's so nice to meet you."

"I'm Layla. It's nice to meet you too."

"Layla, a beautiful name for a princess." He held out his hand for her "Layla, you're invited to paradise…"

Without a second thought, she took his hand.


	3. Lost Call

She sighed, irritated that her hotel suddenly refunded her bank for the next few weeks she paid for so suddenly. Then that last text from Layla… What did she mean by saying she was staying at a convent? No matter how it happened, that didn't change the fact that she was stuck in this strange apartment for God knows how long.

_God… I'm getting hungry. This place has been vacant for a few years according to the others, so chances are, the fridge will need a serious cleaning._

Come to think of it… She was a bit shocked that she didn't smell anything funky from the fridge upon entering. Maybe someone cleaned it out after the poor woman passed. But who…?

_Clean or not, I need to see how much can fit in this thing and get some shopping done. And if it does need to be cleaned I need to do that right now._

She braced herself, holding her breath as she opened the refrigerator door, expecting a foul smell. What she saw waiting for her worried her even more! Without a moment's hesitation she grabbed her phone and called 707.

"Hello~! You have reached God 707, DEFENDER OF JUSTICE~! To continue this call will cost one bag of Honey Buddha Chips and two cans of PhD Pepper. Do you accept?"

"Yes."

"Thank you so much for your generous contribution to the cause! What can the Defender of Justice do for you today?"

She knew that a hacker was involved in her being there, so before she continued she wanted to double check…

"Oh Defender of Justice! I am troubled!"

"Oh no! What troubles you fair maiden!?"

"I keep thinking that I see a bug! But I can never catch it! Tell me, God Seven! Is there a bug running around?"

On the other line all she could hear for a few minutes was the sound of rapid keystrokes.

"You're clever…" Seven said after the final stroke "There was a third party listening in somehow, but I managed to jam their signal for now. This is bad… But you let me worry about that. Something must have really spooked you to make you want to check for bugs. What happened? Are you okay?"

"Seven, I'm fine. But answer my questions honestly. And I'm sorry if it strikes a nerve, but I'm serious."

"I'm listening."

"How long has it been since Rika passed?"

"About two years."

"Okay. How long has it been since anyone was here at all?"

"Two years. So-ri, what's wrong?"

"I opened the fridge to see how much space was in it and… It was full of fresh food. Seven, the food in there couldn't have been here for more than a few days. On top of that, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, in this fridge is something that I like. Statistically speaking, you'd think there would be a few things in there that I don't like. It's almost like-"

"Someone was expecting you. You specifically. Shit! Shit! Shit! This sounding worse and worse. So-ri, have you noticed anything strange?

"Well…" She started "I didn't come to Korea alone, but my friend very suddenly told me that she's staying at a convent after the hotel I've been staying in refunded my bank…"

"A convent? Oh no, I need to tell V about this ASAP! Wait a second…"

"What?"

"Someone's at the door with a few bags. Looks like luggage for a big trip."

She heard a knock at the door

"Should I-"

"No."

After a few moments she heard the doorbell ring over and over

"Seven…"

"Fine. But be careful. I'm watching, so I'll make sure you're safe."

She put the phone down and answered the door.

"Hello?"

"I have a delivery for So-ri Rivera,"

The man's blue eyes sparkled as he presented the bags to her.

"Thanks. Do I need to sign anything?"

"Oh no ma'am" He smiled.

"Okay, well… have a nice day…"

He turned and waved to the camera before walking off.

Once he was out of sight, she rushed back in and locked the door. She opened the bags to find all her things that she packed in there. She grabbed the phone.

"Umm… Seven…"

"What did he bring you?"

"These are all my things from the hotel…"

"Suspicious…"

"Right? What do we do?"

"Let me worry about this, I'll call V right away. So-ri, I swear we'll keep you safe…"

That being said, he hung up.

So-ri just took a breath and sat on the bed.

_She'll be okay. I'll be okay… Everything will turn out fine… Right?_


End file.
